Yes, it’s a high holy day today: it’s National Donut Day. Not like you really need any more reason to celebrate this blessed pastry, but here’s another reason: Donut Crazy is giving away free ones. You got it, free donuts all damn day (until supplies last) just by ordering a single beverage. Continue reading →

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The Granola Bar, known for their healthy spins on classic dishes, fresh juices, and coffee and other wake-ya-up drinks, has made a name for itself in Westport. We’ve been by their spot many times and dig the cool, relaxed vibe . . . and now we won’t have to go so far anymore because they are moving to where we live now: Greenwich.Continue reading →

DiMare Pastry Shop, home of the ever-famous and supremely-delicious Cannoli Dip, is setting up shop in downtown Stamford soon. Like their other two locations in Stamford and Greenwich, they’ll be serving up cakes, pies, breads, nearly every kind of Italian pastry that you could imagine, and more.

We caught up with DiMare Pastry Shop last night at the Chocolate, Dessert & Wine Lovers Evening and asked them about the plans to open. They are very excited and think that they’ll have a big impact in downtown because of baked goods that they’ll be able to offer, filling a major void. They shared that they are in the planning and development stage right now with an artist’s rendition (above) being the first clue as to what we can expect.

It’s hard to beat a crisp fall day. Sweat isn’t pouring down your face and stinking up your clothes, there is excitement in the air, and…well…beer takes center stage. (Then again, in our lives, beer always takes center stage.) There are Oktoberfest beers, brown ales, and pumpkin beers as the last of the summer beers are drunk. And, you better believe fall time means that Oktoberfest and beer festivals are in your plans. Lucky for you we have been keeping track of all of these events throughout Connecticut and we proudly present them to you right here. Prost!

Oktoberfests

Cost: 1)General Admissionis $10 with code IWANTIN or $20 at the door. This gets you entrance, live music, food truck access, free bottles of water, and a chance to purchase beer.

2)The Beer Drinkeris $30 with code GIVEMEBEER or $59 at the door. This gets you entrance, live music, food truck access, free bottles of water, a commemorative tasting glass, and unlimited tastings from 12-5. You can also buy beer, but you’ve got unlimited tastings! Come on now!

3)VIP Accessis $105 with code CANTSTOPWONTSTOP or $211 at the door. This gets you in an hour early, gets you unlimited tastings with a bigger 10 oz tasting glass, you can skip lines, you get a reserved table for singing beer songs, water, live music, food trucks, and you get to take part in The Beer Garden SoNo’s after party!

Description: Achtung, baby…the Beer Garden in SoNo is throwing a major par-tay at the beautiful Oyster Shell Park right in Norwalk. There will be beer, there will be music, and there will be food trucks, so we’re not really sure what else you need. ;) But, if you want some deets, here they are: Blind Pug Ales, Shock Top, Widmer Bros., Goose Island, Hooker, Blue Point, Paulaner, Palm, Radeberger, Heineken, Guinness (they’ll be debuting a new beer), Strongbow, Newcastle, and more along with some great food trucks like Grab Your Balls, Cowabunga, One Bro Pizza Co, Tacos El Azteca, and Caseus. If all of that seems too overwhelming, they’ll have a digital guide that can take you from beer to beer and get you to where ya need to be. While all the drinking and eating is going down, check out One Bad Oyster, The Adam Currie Band, Tim Currie’s Motown Band, and Beach Avenue who you might know from America’s Got Talent! Deals go on until 9/26, so snag ’em while the snagging’s good. Children 13 or younger are free, btw. A portion of sales will be donated to theWhittingham Cancer Center, too, so cheers to that!

Description: Sponsored by the Devon Rotary, the Milford Oktoberfest is one of the most popular scenes in the area. There is a German biergarten, music from HitList, Rumrunners, and an authentic German band, a bratwurst eating contest, and even things for the kiddies to do while you get a refill. And, food wise, you’re set with plenty of German goodies as well as some classic American dishes if you’re sausaged out. Get your tickets at the gate or ask a Devon Rotary member, or call up Scott Moulton at (203) 306-5172 for more info.

Cost: $60/$75 for non-members in advance or $70/$85 for non-members at the door (21+)

Description: SM&NC is one of our favorite places in Fairfield County and it’s also home to a great harvest festival weekend. The ultimate kickoff to the weekend of cider making and family fun is celebrating fall and beer at Oktoberfest on the Meadow. Plenty of great German brews will be flowing with live music from Green Eyed Lady. Plus, it wouldn’t be an Oktoberfest without lots of great German food, and that’s what you’ll get with Old Heidelberg providing the delicious grub. Oh…did we mention the S’mores bar? Hell yeah.

Sure, on the weekend of October 25 (12-10) & 26 (11-8) you could go to any ‘ole Halloween party and get some candy, chips, and if you’re lucky a cute little cupcake with a gummy worm on top… or you could go to the Westfield Mall in Meriden and hit up the Meriden Food Truck Fest where you can stuff your face with fantastic food from an estimated 40 food trucks. With both trucks AND treats, there’s no excuse not to go…

But OmNom, the best part of Halloween parties is we can dress up in slutty, errr, I mean scary, costumes!

Fret not our friends, the Meriden Food Truck Festival has you covered. They WANT you to come dressed in your best costume and they’ll have a professional photographer booth set up so you can show it off.

Espresso NEAT has built a reputation in Fairfield County as being at the top of their game. Year after year, they’ve been awarded best cafe and best coffee, and after you’ve gone there, you can see why. Owner Rachel Haughey and her crew pick their coffee beans with care and perform routine coffee cuppings to ensure that only the best quality coffee will be served at their Darien hotspot. And, that quality comes through big time. Add in their other options like tea, espresso, coffee, salads, snacks, breakfast goodies, and sandwiches, and you’ve got the perfect spot to hang out or grab a quick bite.

So, to Rachel, it was only natural to take Espresso NEAT into the next phase of evolution by opening up a brand new restaurant that was part cafe and part cocktail bar. The new venture, NEAT, will open up in the National Hall Campus in Westport in early August. Working with Rachel in this venture will be owner of Experience Hospitality, Bobby Werhane, and Managing Director Kevin Daniel Lalumiere. Both Bobby and Kevin are locals, too, with Bobby coming from Westport and Kevin from Fairfield. Kevin and Bobby unite Rachel’s expertise and cafe experience with an amazing resume of bars, restaurants, and shops. The team at Experience Hospitality helped to bring some amazing restaurants into NYC like Spasso,dell’anima, L’artusi, and Johnny Utah’s, adding an even more rounded background to the structure of NEAT.

That’s right, tickets to one of our absolute favorite beer fests in the tri-state, Harbor Brew Fest at The Ball Park @ Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, go on sale June 21 starting at 9 am. Tix are $40 for GA ($50 at the door if any tix are left) and $60 for the Brewer’s Special, which gets you in an hour early and gives you access to a special tented area for exclusive and rare tastings. You can also get your tix at Harry’s (they help to make this festival so freaking awesome!) in Fairfield.

9/20: mark it down!

If you went last year and thought they had an amazing selection of craft and local beer, then prepare to be blown away. Seriously, brace yourselves. That’s cuz this year on 9/20 from 12-5 (1-5 for GA), there will be over 100 breweries on hand! And, whereas there was one giant tent filled to the brim with CT breweries down on the field, prepare for more on that green green grass!

Update: the festival organizer changed the price for tickets to $5. Bring your ticket back on Sunday and pay only $2 admission!

Connecticut peeps really like their food trucks. And, on July 19 and 20 from 11-7 on both days, CT peeps are gonna fall straight up, head-over-heels in LOVE with a helluva lot of food trucks at the The Connecticut Food Truck Festival at the North Haven Fairgrounds. Although the final details are still being worked out, there are already a few dozen trucks that have been signed up, with 40-50 expected by the time of the festival. That brings this festival into the record books here in CT as the biggest food truck festival. The previous record was at Westbrook Tanger Outlets with about 20 food trucks, and the recent RBS Food Truck Festival clocking in at 15. And, the top record will soon be broken with an estimated 33 trucks at the Hamden Food Truck Festival…still not as big as the CT Food Truck Fest, though.

Old news is not new news, people…that’s why we’re getting ya some of the freshest nomworthy bites of food news for Fairfield County (and beyond) for this weekend and next week, too. This week we’re talking booze, br/lunch, food news, food trucks, festivals, farms, and farmers’ markets. Full event listings here.

Beer and Liquor Get Ya There Quicker

6/13:Harry’s in Fairfield is hosting “Harry’s Open that Bottle Event” that will feature rare and exclusive Scotches, Ryes, and Bourbons that they’ve been stocking up on over the past few months. Sample these awesome spirits from 5-8 and get some (or something similar) for yourself or dad this Father’s Day.